Your Council Tax explained

The Town Council is committed to keeping the Council Tax as low as possible whilst continuing to deliver first class services to the people of Ringwood.

Since April 2009, the total increase in Council tax has been less than 5% with no increase at all in 2011 or 2013. The Town Council has been able to achieve this through a series of measures including income generation, use of reserves and a continuing programme of cost review. There has also been a staff pay freeze for several years.

In April 2013 the Government devolved responsibility for Council Tax support to local authorities. One consequence of this has been a reduction in the Council Tax base, i.e. the amount of money generated per £1 of Council Tax. For Ringwood the reduction in Council Tax revenue amounted to 11% or almost £44,000. Government funding was made available to billing authorities in order to enable them to compensate precepting authorities such as Ringwood for some of this reduction in revenue. However the shortfall has been borne by the Town Council.

NFDC have indicated that they will reduce the amount of grant available to RTC in 2014/15 by 25% which will reduce funding by £10,500. It would not be prudent to reduce the Town Council reserves any further and reserves will not be used to support revenue funding in 2014/15.

The increase in Council Tax amounts to £14.81 per annum for a Band D property. The reasons for this increase are as follows:

Item

Amount

Reduced grant funding

£2.25

Reduced interest receipts

£0.51

Unavoidable inflation

£1.70

Reduced use of reserves

£3.08

New Investment

£7.27

Total

£14.81

Vacancies

There are no vacancies at present.

Events

On Friday 31st May Ringwood Town Mayor, Cllr. Tony Ring hosted a civic reception in Ringwood Gateway for a party of visitors from Ringwood’s twin town Pont-Audemer, led by its Maire, M. Marcel Leroux……. Read more